Richard Garcia had headed Melbourne ahead following a free-kick in the 22nd minute, but veteran Brett Emerton scored a fine equaliser as he waltzed through the defence to slot home in the 85th minute.

Rhyan Grant then stole victory in injury time when he got up to head Alessandro Del Piero's cross under goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.

It was Sydney's first win in their last eight matches. Sydney climbed above the Wellington Phoenix, who slumped to a third successive loss as they went down 2-0 at home to late goals from the Western Sydney Wanderers at a windy Westpac Stadium.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley opened the scoring with a low stooping header in the 72nd minute, and Labinot Haliti made sure of the points 10 minutes later when a mix up between Ben Sigmund and Wellington goalkeeper Mark Paston gifted him an easy goal.

The win sees the Wanderers move up to fourth, eight points from the summit.